Author: Elizabeth Jabejian

Indian film director Shekhar Kapur will direct Three Apples Fell From Heaven, a film based on the Micheline Aharonian Marcom novel adapted by Motorcycle Diaries writer José Rivera, reports.

The film is set in 1915-1917 as Turks slaughtered Armenians, and revolves around a young female refugee taken in by Turkish neighbors after the death of her parents. Her childhood shattered, she now views the remains of her world through a Muslim veil, as several tragic characters circle around her.

While the Armenian genocide is a century old, there is an eerie parallel to the refugee crisis, beyond Kapur’s memory of his own family forced to flee Delhi as refugees during the partition of India. The filmmakers made available a clip of the young women Kapur has auditioned to play the lead role; they are refugees from Aleppo whose descendants fled there to escape the Armenian genocide and who’ve come back to escape the violence that has devastated Syria.

The clip is a sad reminder of how little the world has really reformed for refugees. This becomes the first film from a new social justice storytelling production company, Disruptive Narrative, which will launch at Cannes as part of Sunday’s Refugee Voices In Film day, presented by IEFTA, the UNHCR and Marché du Film. The company is founded by leading human rights lawyer, Jen Robinson, of Doughty St Chambers , and Syrian-Armenian actress/writer/producer, Sona Tatoyan.

Photo: Boxingscene.com

 

German Armenian boxer “King” Artur Abraham (76,2 kg / GER) won a twelve round unanimous decision over Robin Krasniqi (75,6 kg / GER) in a World Boxing Organization (WBO) Super Middleweight title eliminator.

Abraham will now challenge WBO Super Middleweight World Champion Gilberto Ramirez of Mexico for reigning the title.

Abraham, a former WBO middleweight and super middleweight world champion, lost his 168-pound championship last April to Ramirez in Las Vegas. He bounced back in July, when he knocked out Tim Robin Lihaung in eight rounds. He was set to face Martin Murray in a rematch in the fall, but withdrew with an injury.

On March 31, Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) Co-Chairs Anthony Barsamian and Van Krikorian sent a letter to the Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC), Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA), House Intelligence Chairman David Nunes (R-CA), and Ranking Member Adam Schiff (D-CA) highlighting Turkey’s activities attempting to compromise America’s democratic institutions.

“Given recent reports about Turkey’s attempts to gain surreptitious influence over U.S. officials and media to the detriment of U.S. national security, and as a follow-up to our March 13th letter regarding Azerbaijan and its influence buying in the United States, we are writing to urge your thorough investigation of President Erdogan’s Turkey in an expanded review of foreign governments and their activities that compromise America’s democratic institutions to allow massive human rights violations and work against the United States in ways that are totally out of legal or diplomatic bounds,” Assembly Co-Chairs Barsamian and Krikorian stated.

The Assembly’s letter comes against the backdrop of revelations of former national security advisor Michael Flynn. “This week, even more developments related to this case were exposed. This abundant public record alone represents a disturbing pattern that compromises both our nation’s security and constitutional government,” they added.

Next week, an upcoming hearing in the House Foreign Affairs Committee entitled “Turkey’s Democracy Under Challenge,” promises to reveal further President Erdogan’s disregard for U.S. democratic values and human rights as Turkey nears a constitutional referendum that will vastly expand the powers of the president.

Earlier this month, the Assembly also expressed its concerns with Azerbaijan’s potential violations of Iran sanctions based on similar reports. The Assembly Co-Chairs sent a letter to the Senate and House Select Committees on Intelligence noting Azerbaijan’s human rights abuses and tactics to influence America’s democracy and governance process through its corrupt caviar diplomacy.

Assembly Co-Chairs Barsamian and Krikorian said: “We are writing to express our concern regarding the undue influence of yet another foreign government on America’s democratic institutions, namely Azerbaijan. We are deeply troubled by recent reports about Azerbaijan’s ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its nexus to both the Mammadov family and the highest levels of the Azeri government. We therefore respectfully request that the congressional investigations of Russian influence be expanded to include Azerbaijan’s influence peddling and any materials it may have potentially compromising U.S. officials.”

Asbarez – The Armenian American Museum unveiled a new animated tour video of the cultural and educational center’s concept design, providing a first look at the project’s iconic design and ambitious program. The video can we watched above.

The animated video tour begins with an aerial view of the in the proposed Downtown Glendale location adjacent to the Central Library and Americana at Brand. The tour continues with the interior of the Museum, revealing the grand lobby, state-of-the-art auditorium, and exhibition halls, where Museum officials plan to feature permanent exhibitions on the Armenian American experience and traveling exhibitions on diverse cultures and subject matters that will engage all audiences. The video concludes with an evening shot featuring the rooftop sculpture garden and Museum exterior.

“The Armenian American Museum will be one of the most historic cultural and educational centers built in the region and we are excited to share our vision through the concept design animated tour,” said Museum Executive Committee Chairman Berdj Karapetian. “The Museum will serve students, artists, historians, and diverse audiences from across the Southern California region.”

The vision for the Armenian American Museum is a cultural campus that enriches the community, educates the public on the Armenian American story, and empowers individuals to embrace cultural diversity and speak out against prejudice.

Museum and City officials are on schedule to complete the concept design, traffic, parking, economic, and environmental studies in time for the consideration of the ground lease agreement by the Glendale City Council during the fourth quarter of 2017.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan insists Manchester United are ready to face Chelsea in the FA Cup despite their hectic fixture schedule, the Evening Standard reports.

Asked about the potential impact United’s fixture schedule is having on results, Mkhitaryan told the club’s website: “It doesn’t bother us.

“We just have to get ready for that game. It’s not going to be easy as everyone knows but we know how we’re going to play and we’re hoping for a good game and a good result for us.

“We have to play with everyone. It doesn’t matter whether we’re playing away or at home, we just have to do our best and to keep playing very well. That’s the most important thing.

“There is no sense to think about avoiding Chelsea or someone else [in cup draws] because you’re probably going to meet them in the final.

“I think it’s better to play them now, to see if you can win or not and then you move forward.

“It’s going to be very important to stay in three different competitions.

“We’re going to try to do that. It’s not going to be easy because as you go further it gets difficult but we have to try.

“We’re having a good time now, we’re having good games, we have a good squad and we can reach the maximum that we want.”

Manchester United star Henrikh Mkhitaryan paid tribute to the Armenian supporters who backed him at the Olimp-2 stadium and insists the Reds will keep fighting to win every game after a 1-1 draw away to FC Rostov in the Europa League.

The Armenia international returned to the United side for the first time since injuring his hamstring in the 1-0 away win over Saint-Etienne in the round of 32 and he marked it with a goal, scoring the opener from close range. He was backed by fans who made the trip from his homeland to join the travelling Reds in cheering Jose Mourinho’s men on.

It was Mkhitaryan’s third successive away goal in the competition and he accepted it was crucial for the club to go into next week’s second leg at Old Trafford with a slight advantage.

“I am happy to be back and I’m happy to score today,” he told . “I am thankful [to the Armenian fans] that they came to support me and maybe I did a good present for them, scoring a goal, so they enjoyed watching our game. I think it’s good that we scored an away goal and we have good chances for the second game.”

United were in control of the first half but conceded early in the second period, in what were tricky conditions for the Reds.

“They scored a goal and everything changed,” Mkhitaryan continued. “We played as well as we could on this pitch so I don’t even want to speak about it because, for both sides, the pitch was an awful thing.”

United have conceded just once at Old Trafford in the Europa League this season – Robin van Persie scoring in the 4-1 victory over Fenerbahce – and Mkhitaryan believes the second leg “is going to be more important” than the first.

Mourinho’s side now turn their attentions to Monday night’s Emirates FA Cup quarter-final against Premier League leaders Chelsea before welcoming FC Rostov to Manchester on Thursday.

The tunnel mural of the Armenian Students’ Association (ASA) was found defaced and covered with propaganda posters on the morning of Feb. 27,  reports.

Serge Iskedijan, senior executive member of the ASA, said he and his club suspect the incident is a hate crime, and reported the incident to Campus Safety.

Iskedijan said Campus Safety has involved the Ottawa Police in the case.

“We were deeply appalled that they chose to attack the mural . . . The mural is a depiction of just our historical background,” he said. “There’s nothing political about the mural. We’re not sending a message, and we don’t want people to interpret it that way.”

According to a statement on the ASA’s Facebook page, the posters were not approved by the Carleton University Students’ Association, and were not found anywhere else on school grounds.

The ASA said in the statement that they condemn “any sort of hate speech and discrimination towards any race, ethnicity or faith.”

This mural defacing was not the first time his club has encountered hostility, according to Iskedijan.

The posters placed on the mural appeared to be part of Azerbaijani campaign  called “Justice for Khojaly.”

Iskedijan said Campus Safety has forwarded information about the case to the intelligence unit of the Ottawa Police, which will determine whether or not the incident will be considered a hate crime.